A day of Silence at O-An Zendo

On Sunday Linda and I had the rare opportunity to spend an extended period of time sitting in silence at O-AN Zendo in the Julian Woods community north of State College. We had six sessions of sitting separated by walking meditation. I was fortunate to be able to complete the sittings with little difficulty. This allowed me to maintain an active state of awareness without thinking or dwelling on my uncomfortable physical state as I often do. I was able to go deep and penetrate some layers of ego that I hadn't dealt with previously causing me to let go with some uncontrolled emotion when we each had a chance to share our experience around the table where Barbara served some great chocolate tofu pie. It had been a number of years since I experienced this kind of emotional cleansing. Not long ago I was thinking that I must have uncovered all of the past hurts and guilt that flow out at these times, but there it was. This extended sitting took me deeper into that place where we hide things that we don't want to deal with. For me it's like digging up artifacts. I'm never quite sure what I uncovered. I know that it is not necessarily related directly to what I am talking about at the time so it will take some time and some contemplation to understand the mystery. Even then it may not be comprehensible in the language of ordinary mind. It may just come as a direct experience of the moon's reflection in the water.

Barbara pointed to the moon for us with contemporary fingers. She used the lyrics from "Let it Be" by the Beattles:

"When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be"

We suffer needlessly because we feel that we have to fix things. We want to fix our own problems and the problems of our friends and others. We want to fix the world. Fixing things is fine and even good but we need to do what we can without attachment and "Let it Be". But we become obsessed with things. We dwell on things and nurture fear and anxiety. We need to learn to "Let it be". This was a beautiful Dharma lesson.

After our final sitting I was surprised by the chant:

Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
Merily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

I had never thought about all of the Buddhist symbolism in this round that I learned in elementary school. What a beautiful surprise.

We finished with a beautiful bowing ceremony. Each of us had the opportunity to bow to all of the other participants.

My gratitude to Barbara and all who were present.

With Loving Kindness,

Robert

We are all in this together

Please see my post on the Lotus Light Community blog.

With Loving Kindness,

Robert

Meditation - February 3, 2008

Inviting the Bell
May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply
into the cosmos.
In even the darkest places may living beings
hear it clearly,
so their suffering will cease,
understanding arise in their hearts,
and they can transcend the path of
anxiety and sorrow.

Reading
From Faith in Mind - by the third Patriarch Master Seng Ts'an - translated by Sheng Yen - Published by Shambhala
No need to seek the real
Just extinguish your views
Do not abide in dualistic views
Take care not to seek after them
As soon as there is right and wrong
The mind is scattered and lost
Two comes from one,
yet do not keep the one
When one mind does not arise
Myriad dharmas are without defect.

Guided Meditation - by Robert

Breathing in I am grateful for the fresh air
Breathing out I smile to my breathing

Breathing in I am grateful for the fresh water
Breathing out I smile to drinking water

Breathing in I am grateful for friends
Breathing out I smile to my friends

Breathing in I am aware of Joy
Breathing out I experience Joyfulness

Breathing in I am aware of happiness
Breathing out I experience happiness

Breathing in I am aware of Joyfulness
Breathing out may my friends experience joyfulness

Breathing in I am aware of happiness
Breathing out may my friends experience happiness

Breathing in I am aware of Joyfulness
Breathing out may all beings experience joyfulness

Breathing in I am aware of happiness
Breathing out may all beings experience happiness

Reading
from "The Mind King" - by Master Fu. Translated by Master Sheng Yen
Published by Shambhala Publications, Inc.
("The Mind King" is one poem in the book: The Poetry of Enlightenment).
This poem of Master Fu describes pure mind; The mind after enlightenment. It also tells us that we always possess pure mind but we don't live in the state of pure mind because of our thoughts and vexations. Here is a stanza from the poem:

"When you realize original mind,
The mind sees Buddha.
This mind is Buddha;
This Buddha is mind".

Silent Meditation
We had 10 minutes of silent meditation


Reading
from Zen and the Art of Happiness - by Chris Prentiss
Published by Power Press
Adapting to Change - pg. 87
The author tells how he bought a new car and had it parked in the alley. He came out just in time to see it get scratched by an old VW. The driver got out and was very distraught and obviously had no money to pay for the damage. The author told him that it was perfect. Now he will not worry about his new car being scratched. The driver was so happy he danced in the alley and the author gave him a contact with a friend where he got a job. He later came back to pay for the damage but the author refused it saying that he liked the scratch and that it reminded him that the universe is perfect. The story is very moving the way that it is presented int he book.

Silent Meditation
We had 10 minutes of silent meditation

Open discussion


With Loving Kindness,

Robert

Meditation - January 27th, 2008

Sunday's Meditation was held at the Shining Dawn Bed and Breakfast. It was a beautifull setting for meditation - A big Thank You to Helen and Bruce.

We began with our usual preliminaries: Bell gatha, stretching, finding center.

Our first meditation was done in guided meditation style. I read a paragraph on each of the Four Noble Abodes and we followed the reading with a few minutes of silent contemplation. The readings can be found in the "Core Beliefs" section of the "Learning Center" on www.rightviewonline.org
They consist of:
Loving Kindness
Compassion
Joy
Equanimity

We had walking meditation and then read the Thich Nhat Hanh version of the five precepts which he calls "The Five Mindfulness Trainings". They can be found in The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching on page 94. I received the transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh at a retreat in 1999.

This was followed by a reading from Song of Mind by Niutou Farong, and translated by Chan Master sheng yen. Farong was a disciple of the fourth patriot. I also read a section from Master sheng yen's introduction to the text. He explains Farong's teaching that our mind is originally pure but it's purity is lost with the rise of even one thought. When we learn to practice stillness we dwell in no-mind or enlightenment. After we are able to achieve no-mind we can live in the ordinary world just like anyone else but without attachment or discrimination. There are thoughts but no thinker. You no longer practice to achieve anything. Practicing is just what we do. If we practice with a goal we cannot achieve the no-mind state. I've been working on this teaching for several months now and it's been very helpful to me.

With Loving Kindness,

Robert

Next Week's Meditation

Reminder - Our next meditation, January 27th, will be held at the Shining Dawn Bed and Breakfast located at 224 Broadway in Hanover.

With Loving Kindness,

Robert

Meditation - January 20th, 2008

Our Sunday evening meditation was very powerful for me. As Helen said at the end of our session there was a good energy and it has been with me for the past two days now.

Helen, Jenny, and Myself(Robert) participated.

We began with are usual bell gatha, stretching and mindfulness contemplation:
Mindfulness of the breath
Mindfulness of the body
Mindfulness of feelings
Mindfulness of the Mind and objects of Mind
We transformed our minds to joyfulness and happiness


We again contemplated a phone gatha used in last weeks meditation.

Words can travel thousand of miles.
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely s flowers.

(pg. 69 – Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness verses for Daily Living).

Walking Meditation

We had a reading on Enlightment from Essential Buddhism by Jack Maguire - pg. 77

He raises three questions:
What does it mean to be enlightened?
How do you achieve it?
How can you tell when it happens?

He then goes on to say that we cannot answer these questions in any logical sense or in any sense that relies on conditions. Buddhism and Zen in particular present us with many paradoxes because to experience the ultimate we need to leave ordinary mind and ordinary thinking. Otherwise we could not take the Four Noble Vows:

Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them.
Desires are endless. I vow to put an end to them.
The Dharmas are boundless. I vow to master them.
The Buddha way is unattainable. I vow to attain it.

Yet many of us have had glimpses during meditation of a higher state of energized bliss in which dualism fails to exist. In this state we clearly understand the emptiness of all form. We can understand the purity of the absolute. The terms good and bad don't pertain. Maguire says this state can be described as a state of complete freedom. We go beyond self and we open to a new demension beyond what self experiences. Here is oneness with the absolute.

We had 15 minutes of silent meditation.

We had another reading from Zen and the Art of happiness by Chris Prentiss - pg. 35

Prentiss discusses happiness as an everyday experience. We create happiness with our minds based on the way we see things. He talks about some fans being happy and some unhappy at the end of a sporting event based on which team they favored or the city the team represents, etc.
This is one of the practical benefits of studying Buddhism. We learn to understand our mind and our feelings and once we are aware we gain a higher perspective on things. We no longer need to suffer as victims of external circimstances. We have the ability to take charge of our feelings. In the open discussion I explained how I've taken up the practice of saying internally:
Breathing in I make my self happy.
Breathing out I experience Joy.
Just by being mindful of my breath for a minute or say and contemplating these words changes my emotional state to one of Joy and Happiness. The first time We practiced the Sutra on the Full awareness of Breathing kara remarked how just saying the words changes how we feel.

We concluded with open discussion.

With Loving Kindness,

Robert

Meditation - Sunday, January 13, 2008

Members:
Jenny, and Robert.

Our meditation focused on mindful speech and patience.

We opened with one of the usual bell invitations:

May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply
into the cosmos. In even the darkest places may living beings
hear it clearly,
so their suffering will cease,
understanding arise in their hearts,
and they can transcend the path of
anxiety and sorrow.

We prepared our bodies with some stretches and mindfulness of the body.

We followed with a gatha prescribed for phone answering:

Words can travel thousand of miles.
May my words create mutual understanding and love.
May they be as beautiful as gems,
as lovely s flowers.

(pg. 69 – Present Moment, Wonderful Moment: Mindfulness verses for Daily Living).

This was followed with walking meditation.

We had a reading on "right speech" from The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching – Thich Nhat Hanh)

Thich Nhat Hanh covers the traditional teachings that caution against:

1. Speaking falsely
2. Speaking with a forked tongue
3. Speaking cruelly
4. Embellishing or exaggerating the facts

He goes on to explain how our speech is directed by our thoughts so if we are practicing
right thinking we will practice right speech. Right mindfulness is also part of the practice.
Thich Nhat Hanh is constantly pointing out that all of the components of leading an enlightened
life exist together and if we really practice one part of the path properly we will be practicing
the entire path. (See the section on "The Noble Eightfold Path" in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh).

Bhikkhu Bodhi translates these elements of "Right Speech" as:

1. Abstaining from false speech
2. Abstaining from slanderous speech
3. Abstaining from harsh speech
4. Abstaining from idle chatter

(See The Noble Eightfold Path - by bhikkhu Bodhi).

Silent Meditation: 15 minutes

We had a reading from The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin.
Geri's great at applying our ideals to real life situations. She explains how
a lonely man named Eugene helped teach them tolerance and mindful speech
at Still Point in Detroit. There is a great lesson here in looking deeply into a
real situation and applying love but in a firm manner.
(See The Chocolate Cake Sutra by Geri Larkin, pg. 77. Tolerance).

In our open discussion Jenny and I talked about our own experiences with speaking mindfully and sometimes not as mindfully as we wish we had. Mindful speech is part of what is called skillful means. When we speak mindfully we create unity and can foster reconciliation and healing. When we use harsh words we only fuel hostility and cause increased conflict and division. Once unskillful words leave our mouth we cannot retrieve them and sometimes we are never able to repair the damage.

With Metta,

Robert